Grant to fund Lake Opeka park improvements

A $283,600 grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will help the Des Plaines Park District develop the 2.83 acres directly east of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church at Howard and Lee streets.

The park district says it will keep the land as primarily open space for public recreation and family get-togethers; plans include an 8-foot wide asphalt path, with seating, that would connect with the playground area and the existing path, a bocce ball court, two bags courts, a new lakeside pavilion for civic, park and special events, a fishing pier, a 30' x 40' picnic shelter, a sensory garden, a mini-arboretum of native Illinois trees, and prairie landscaping.

A water play/cooling spray area and a restroom building with drinking fountains is also being considered. Groundbreaking is likely to occur in summer 2010. The original purchase of the land was made possible in part by a $750,000 Land Acquisition Grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in 2006.